Supporting Hate Crime Awareness Week

Cleveland Police and the PCC for Cleveland are supporting Hate Crime Awareness Week and we are reminding people to use the online reporting tool TrueVision at http://www.report-it.org.uk

The term ‘hate crime’ refers to any crime against a person which is perceived to be motivated by a person’s hostility or prejudice against certain characteristics including race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.

A Hartlepool organisation, Hart Gables, also encourages third parties to report on behalf of those who may be unable or unwilling to report offences.

Sarah Lewis, Strategic Development Manager at Hart Gables, said: “Hate crime is so widespread it touches the lives of people locally and globally. We would encourage anyone suffering from any form of hate to please come forward and report their incident to Cleveland Police or third party reporting centres.

“In order for us to demonstrate that hate crime is happening in our community, we need people to share their experiences and let the wider community know that hostility towards certain groups of people still exists. Our service offers a one to one support service for anyone dealing with any form of hate.”

And PCC Barry Coppinger has announced he is funding three new roles to help those subjected to hate crime. They are: a Community Cohesion Coordinator, Refugee and Asylum Seeker Coordinator and Hate Crime Investigator. All three positions will be advertised shortly via the Cleveland Police website, careers section.

Mr Coppinger said: “These unacceptable crimes cause great harm to individuals and to society as a whole, and I welcome the chance to once again express my support for this campaign - and to repeat there is no place for hate crime in Cleveland’s communities.

“My office has already prepared a DVD on disability hate crime for use in primary schools which has been well received.

“We also support Show Racism the Red Card and last year we funded three conferences for educational practitioners, provided input into 88 schools and ran an event for schools at Middlesbrough Football Club.

“This year my office is funding a further three educational practitioner conferences, more input into schools with 16 booked in so far, and we hope to run an event for schools at Hartlepool Football Club.

“To further demonstrate my commitment to fighting hate crime I have funded the LGBT Federation to develop advocacy support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities across Cleveland.”

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Ciaron Irvine added: “Raising awareness of hate crime and working with partners to tackle it remains an absolute priority for the force.

“I would urge anyone who believes they have been subject to a hate crime to come forward and I can guarantee they will be fully supported throughout any investigation.”